Hu Gets Humanities Grant

Hampton University will blend African and European literature into its humanities courses thanks to a $77,000 grant from the National Endowment for The Humanities.

HU was one of 32 colleges that received such a grant from the February council of NEH, which meets four times a year. Overall, 94 colleges and graduate schools applied for education grants.

HU was the only Virginia college selected, said Karen Myers, an NEH spokeswoman.

In all, the NEH council approved grants of $6.5 million for 55 education projects, Myers said.

In August, HU will conduct the first of three two-week sessions on epic literature for 14 professors to improve the quality of instruction in a two-course humanities sequence, said Enid Housty, a music professor who is the project director. The other two will be held in January and May. An outside expert will conduct the seminars.

Participants will study works ranging from Homer's "Iliad" to "Sundiata," an African epic.

Housty said the goal of the program was to improve instruction by drawing into humanities courses professors of music, art, literature and history.

She also said she hopes to change the way students look at African and European literature. "Instead of studying western and non-western epics as separate entities, they will study the relationships between the two," she said.